Mr. Cuomo and his fellow Democrats will control state government starting in January, so chances are good this will become law.

To find out what New York can expect, I talked to Adam Darnell, a researcher at the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, an independent, nonpartisan group. (Washington, along with Colorado, legalized pot way back in 2012.)

His take: watch for impaired drivers, the black market may not go away, adults may be the only people lame enough to start smoking once it’s legal, and get used to the smell.

New York officials say that pot could generate half a billion dollars a year in tax revenue. Has Washington State found that revenue lives up to predictions?

Mr. Darnell: I feel like people are fairly impressed with the revenue that’s been collected. They’re over a billion dollars since the inception of the market, last I checked, and that’s not counting sales tax, business and occupation tax.

Any safety concerns?

There’s a bunch of suggested evidence that more people dying in traffic accidents are found with THC in their blood after legalization than before. Law enforcement will tell you impaired driving with marijuana is a much bigger problem than it was before.

Did marijuana use increase?

Use among adults has risen. Some new people who weren’t previously using might start.

Has law enforcement been able to reduce its focus on marijuana to concentrate on other crimes?

There’s not as many reductions as you might have expected. Tracking the product in the commercial system is very onerous.

We dedicated money for a Drug Enforcement Task Force to respond to concerns about a possible spike in black market marijuana activity associated with legalization.

What do you see and smell?

Public consumption is a little more conspicuous. In public places, you’re pretty used to catching a whiff of marijuana now. People have just gotten used to it.

How do you have a debate with 23 candidates?

A partial answer may emerge tonight when at least 16 candidates for New York City public advocate participate in a 7 p.m. forum at the First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn Heights.

The candidates will be lumped into four groups, and each group will have about 25 minutes to talk.

The public advocate’s duties are murky, the strength of the office is questionable and its funding has shrunk. But two of the four people who have served as public advocate have gone on to bigger things: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Letitia James, who in January becomes the state attorney general.

“It’s hard for me as a big fan of democracy to say there’s too many candidates, but it certainly poses challenges,” said one of tonight’s moderators, Ben Max of The Gotham Gazette. “We have to delicately figure out when to interject.”

Statue of Liberty climber convicted

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CreditAgence France-Presse — Getty Images

The woman who climbed onto the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July to protest the family separations at the Mexican border was found guilty on Monday of three misdemeanors.

Therese Okoumou was convicted at a short bench trial in federal court in Manhattan of trespassing, interference with government agency functions and disorderly conduct. She faces imprisonment of up to six months on each charge.

“I wanted to send a strong statement that children do not belong in cages,” Ms. Okoumou testified during the trial.

And finally: No more HOLLAAD TONNEL

For years — maddeningly, to some motorists — the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had put an A-shaped Christmas tree over the N in “Holland” and an O-shaped wreath over the U in “Tunnel” on the big HOLLAND TUNNEL lettering above the tollbooths.

This year there was public outcry. So the Port Authority let the public vote, and last night the authority’s elves moved the tree in front of the more natural-fitting A and removed the wreath covering the U.

The traffic will remain.

Metropolitan Diary: Sixth Avenue snake

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Dear Diary:

It was July 1982 and we were on our second date, talking and walking along Sixth Avenue on a warm Saturday night. The Village felt livelier than usual.

We passed a long line of people outside a theater. One of them had a large snake wrapped around his shoulders.

Stopping to admire the snake — or maybe the spunk of the handler — I asked if it had a name. Monty Python, I was told.

When I turned to see whether my date shared my enthusiasm for the reptile, I scanned the throngs of people filling the sidewalk but I couldn’t find him anywhere.

I began to panic a little. It seemed as though I would soon be catching a cab home by myself since I couldn’t find my date.

Then I spotted him on the corner across the avenue. When we met up, he told me that he was terrified of snakes and that he had run away when he saw Monty Python waiting on the movie line.

We’ve been married for 35 years now, and he’s still terrified of snakes.

— Cheryl Wachtel

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